There is a need for an improved method for physicians to provide medical services to patients through the use of a cart for practicing telemedicine. Presently some medical carts include a monitor in the landscape format for displaying an incoming image of a physician. The size of the monitor may range between 19″ to 27″. There is a physical limitation on the size of the monitor since the cart must not be wider than the width of a typical door. As a general rule, a cart is typically not wider than 30″. While it is possible to see a physician appearing on the screen of the monitor, the physician appears much smaller than life-size. As a result, the patient cannot gain a sense of presence of the physician.
Furthermore, the physician may be transmitting from a typical video conference system or computer with a webcam. By the standard configuration of video conference systems and webcams on computer monitors, the camera is above the monitor displaying transmitted image of the room with the patient. The camera will view the physician looking downward toward the image of the patient. As a result, the transmitted camera view of the physician will appear on the patient's monitor as looking downward, instead of looking toward the patient. This will show that the physician is not engaged in a natural conversation with the patient due to the lack of perceived eye contact.
Another aspect of typical telemedicine carts is that the monitor is in the landscape orientation. This horizontal aspect ratio limits the area of the image display device that can accommodate the image of a physician. The horizontal image may be able to show the head and shoulders of the physician, but this is only a small portion of the physician's body. The result is a lack in the sense of presence due to the limited “body language” of the physician.
FIG. 1 provides a prior art example of a telemedicine cart for video conference communication between a remotely located physician and a patient within a medical facility. The telemedicine cart 4 has a monitor 2 placed on a supporting structure of a cart. The monitor 2 displays an image 1 in a landscape orientation. The image 1 of a physician is smaller than life-size, which diminishes the sense of presence. The width and height of cart 4 with monitor 2 are limited by the size of the standard opening of a door, so that the cart can be easily moved from room to room. As a result, it is not possible to accommodate a larger screen image with a larger monitor.
There is a need for an improved telemedicine cart that can also be referred to as a medical cart, to provide a greater sense of presence of the physician for the patient.